earendel's "North to Alaska" trip - Day 1

[earendel]

The power came back on around 3:30AM, and I woke up just a few minutes later. I stumbled to my computer, booted it up and managed to get the work that I needed done, and also started the last-minute laundry, hoping that it would get finished before elwing got up, so there would be one less thing for her to worry about. Then I sat down in my recliner. Next thing I knew it was 8:30 and I had a doctor's appointment at 9:30. I got up, woke elwing, and we started the process of loading the car with our bags, checking to make sure we had all the documentation we needed, and then heading out. Our flight from Louisville to Dallas/Ft. Worth left at 2PM; we wanted to be at the airport by 12:30 at the latest. The doctor's appointment took longer than I anticipated, so it was off to lunch almost immediately after it was over. We stopped by the house to get our son, who was going to take the car home from the airport, and then went to a Wendy's near home. While there elwing went through her mental checklist and realized that there were two or three things that hadn't been packed, so our son ran home and fetched them while we ate. We made it to the airport around 12:45 (still plenty of time) and down to the gate from which we would depart. Boarding was supposed to start around 1:30.

At 1:00 we were advised that weather problems in the east had caused the flight to be delayed; the plane finally landed around 3:00. After the passengers deplaned and the cabin was cleaned up, we figured that we would start boarding, but then we were informed that there was a "hydraulic problem" with the plane and takeoff would be further delayed. This was now a problem, since we had to make a connecting flight from DFW to Vancouver. elwing went to speak to the person at the desk to ask about our flight, but she couldn't get any information - "please check with the customer service representative in Dallas" was the refrain. We finally took off around 4PM.

Of course we missed the connecting flight - ironically weather problems in the Dallas area had delayed the flight's takeoff, but not enough so that we could catch it. So we had to rebook. I don't know what elwing had to do to get the arrangements, but when she got back to where I was sitting, she was not happy. The good news was that we were in the right place - we had been put on a plane to Salt Lake City, from which we would catch a flight to Vancouver - on a different airline. The SLC plane was in the final stages of boarding, so we climbed aboard and were whisked off.

At this point I should mention that American has stopped serving free food or snacks on their flights. If you want anything to eat, you have to purchase it from their list. By this time both elwing and I were hungry and figured that we wouldn't have much of an opportunity to get anything to eat in Dallas so we purchased snacks on the plane. To their credit, American sells good stuff, but it's very expensive.

In Salt Lake City we had to change from American Airlines to Delta. This was accomplished without a hitch, and because there was about an hour before takeoff we managed to get some decent food (at airport prices, though). Finally we were off again, arriving in Vancouver after midnight local time (when we were scheduled to land around 8PM). We landed on the tarmac and had to walk across to the terminal. It was an eerie experience, rather like the TV version of "The Langoliers" - no sound, no one around as we threaded our way through the hallways and finally made it to the customs station. From there it was off to the carousel for our luggage. But there was no luggage. We waited, and waited, but nothing showed up; finally elwing went to the desk and asked. They tracked the luggage using the stickers we were given in Louisville and told us that it was "somewhere in transit". Our changed schedule and changed airline were probably the reason why, but it meant that we had no luggage, no changes of clothing or anything. Further, we were told, the chances were that we wouldn't get the luggage for several days. elwing told the agent that we couldn't wait - we were supposed to board a ship that afternoon (Saturday) for a cruise. The agent shrugged, saying that there was nothing he could do, but did assure us that they would transship the luggage to Juneau, our next port of call.

So with only our carryon bags to our name elwing went to claim the rental car she had booked, to take us to the motel she had reserved in a suburb of Vancouver. We called them to inform them that we would be arriving late - a good thing, as it turned out, because the motel was booked solid. It took almost an hour to get the rental car and another half-hour to find the motel, so by the time we hit the sack it was almost 3AM. Considering that I had been up since around 3:30 the previous day, I was exhausted, and elwing was no better. This was turning out not to be the restful vacation we had intended.

[MarleysGh0st]

Starting a cruise with no luggage. Isn't air travel wonderful!

[earendel]

Starting a cruise with no luggage. Isn't air travel wonderful!

On the trip we learned about the prospectors who were required by the Canadians to carry a ton of supplies (literally) with them in order to get past the border. Missed luggage was an inconvenience (as I'll mention in subsequent posts) but not a total disaster.